Match Night Live

Good afternoon all. Finny here again as your host for tonights match. Game is due to start at 5.30pm

Once again I want to hear from you. Predictions for tonights game? Thoughts about last weeks results?

Did you go up to Newcastle last weekend - if so who caught your eye?

Email me at matchnightlive@googlemail.com

Players are warming up. Richardson is out on the ice, whilst Crisp is backup once again.

After last weeks great turnout by Devils fans, we seem to have had a slight drop this week. So far Chris can only see 4.

Don't forget this is a new look Hull Stingrays side from last season. Strachan is gone and Cloutier has taken his place.

Victory in the P&O Channel Cup (or something over that) over Tilburg and Nottingham gave them their first piece of silveware of the season.

Last week didn't get off to a great start though with a home loss against Belfast. It also seems that Adam Knight has already got a reputation as a player who needs a good smack. Will Voth ablige?

I think this might be Chris' first visit to the Hull 'Arena'. He doesn't sound too impressed with it.

Big (and I mean BIG) shout out to Jed from........ URUGUAY!!!!!

cmon devils...4-2!!!!!!!!!!

Hystix:Predictions for tonights game 3-2 Hull in OT.

A lot depends whether Hull can keep Birbraer and Smith quiet.

I'll be following the Inferno with a close eye as i'm unable to attend tonights game, hope it's enjoyable for those that have made it.

Good to know I'm not on here on my own. Although with the lovely sunny weather we have today in Cardiff, I'm not too surpised.

In fact I'm quite tempted to dig out my old laptop and try to do MNL from outside in the sun..... Hmmmm.....

Here comes the home teams mascot - the Hull ..... Sting..Bear..Cat..Ray... or something like that.

Keith:

Hi from a sunny Aberystwyth 3-1 win for THE DEVILS

come on THE RED ARMY

There are two other games tonight:

Nottingham v Coventry

Belfast v Sheffield

Neither game starts until 7pm though so we won't have to worry about any updates for them until later.

Zamboni has just left the ice.

The Devils take to the ice. Small cheer from Chris, as theStub has gone for food. Poor timing I say.

And the Dull...sorry Hull Stingrays take to the ice. Not many fans in the 'Arena'. Estimate of about 400.....

Referee is Carson

His assistants are Sewell and Staniforth

The second line is going to take the first face off..

..and we are Go Go Go!

Stop! Stop! Stop!

That didn't last long - Devils penalty already.

00:35 - Devils Penalty - Brad Voth 2 minutes High Sticks

01:27 - Puck goes out of play.

"BANG!" - Hill nails Knight with the first big hit of the game.

And the Devils return to full strength.

"BOOM!" - Another big hit - this time Miller on Cloutier.

03:31 - Devils offside.

Hull create a good chance and shot..... and it hits the post and bounces back out!

5 minutes gone and it's end to end hockey so far.

5 minutes gone and it's end to end hockey so far.

We look to be struggling a bit defensively in these early stages.

Jarvis and Glowa line each other up and "BOOM".......they both end up on the ice.

08:16 - Devils ice the puck

It's still end to end hockey

"KAPOW!" - Another big check on Cloutier - this time by Romfo

I'm starting to run out of Batman adjectives.

Devils turn to create a good chance but Sandahl the Hull netminder makes a good save.

So far Smith is looking quicker than he did last week. The first line are starting to put some pressure on the Hull D.

Ben Davies is on the 3rd line tonight, as Adams has moved back to defence.

Devils shoot....they must score.....ace save by Sandahl!

12:24 - Hull skate offside

Latulippe is trying to work his verbal magic on Knight. It seems to be working.

12:56 - Hull Penalty - Burns 2 mins for Tripping

Devils on the PP, but it's Hull who get a breakaway.... they shoot.... Lyle SAVES!

Devils fire the puck across the crease, but nobody can get there to touch it into the net!

Devils shoot...it hits the post...they fire the rebound back in.....Sandahl makes the save.

And another Hull breakaway....this time the shot is deflected high and goes out of play.

14:40 - Sandahl makes another save.

Devils are creating quite a few chances in the Hull zone, but we are also making silly defensive mistakes which are gifting them chances.

Hull return to full strength.....but..

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

15:22 - Hull Stingrays 0-1 Cardiff Devils

"Good goal" scored by Michel who was setup by Davies.

Play has barely resumed when its GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL again!

Stingrays 0-2 Devils

Voth(Hill, Adams) @ 16:34

Hull are trying to target Voth. Sounds like a silly idea to me. A bit like trying to find a gas leak in the dark with a match.

18:26 - Hull ice the puck

Into the final minute...

Devils shoot with seconds remaning in the game.....but Sandahl saves.

Obviously I meant seconds left in the period, not the game. Stupid Finny.

End of 1st period.

Hull Announcer: "That's 16 shots by Hull, and 2 by Cardiff".

Hmmmm.........

Seems The Inferno is going global tonight.

Another big shout out across the Atlantic to Jan Romfo - Scott's mum!

5 minutes of the break left

Aled: A win tonight will see us go top of the league (all be it for about an hour)

Still, it's better than not being top of the league. Too right Aled!

The officials are back on the ice...

and here come your CARDIFF DEVILSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Oh. And Hull

And the second period is underway....

Hull start the second period by picking up the pace.

They shoot...and once again the puck hits the pipe.

They fire the rebound backtowards the goal.....big save by Lyle.

Another big save by Lyle

Sorry folks, Server went down briefly - let me work out where we are.... unfortunately Hull have scored a goal :(

Stingrays 1-2 Devils

Kalmikov (Thompson, Glowa) @ 21:28

And it's all kicking off infront of the Devils bench...handbags on show everywhere!!

All this whilst the clock has stopped at 24:51

Penalties are:

Jarvis - 2 mins Roughing

Another Devils - 2 mins Roughing

Cloutier - 2 mins High Sticks

Knight - 2 mins Roughing.

Stingrays Goal

Stingrays 2-2 Devils

Kalmikov (Thopson, Glowa) @ 25:42

26:10 - Puck out of play

26:14 - Puck goes out of play again.

27:01 - Devils Penalty - Michel 2 mins Tripping

The other 4 players all return to the ice.

27:27 - Devils counter-attack on the PK, but Sandahl makes the save

There may be less home fans than in Newcastle, but they are making far more noise!

28:14 - Hull shoot...and once again it hits the post! They fire the rebound back in but Lyle makes the save.

28:40 - Sandahl tries to clear the puck - but fires it out over the plexi.

2 mins for Delay of Game.

Devils back to full strength and so go onto the PP.

30 minutes gone, and now it's Sandahl's turn to make good save after good save.

Hull back to full strength.

Our PP needs some work apparently.

30:57 - Stingrays Penalty - Esders 2 mins Tripping

Jan Romfo:

It’s 80 degrees Fahrenheit and noon in Minnesota! Watching the blog on our deck

Devils go on the powerplay...but its short lived as we give away a penalty ourselves.

31:29 - Devils Penalty - Hill 2 mins Elbows.

We'll have 1:28 of 4-on-4 hockey before Hull go on the PP.

*BANG* - Michel nails Kalmikov!

Hull back to full strength and will have 33 seconds of PP

Stingrays Goal

Stingrays 3-2 Devils

Esders (Jorder, Hutchinson) PP @ 33:15

Unsuprisingly Devils call a Time Out.

33:46 - Hill makes space, shoots.......but it deflects out of play.

34:15 - Puck out of play again.

34:57 - Hull go offside.

Our defence is not doing its job at the moment. Full of holes.

Keith:

O *beep* here we go down hill again

32 minutes gone, Devils still making too many errors.

Jed:

Cool 18 degrees here in Montevideo...the sun is shining and the devils need a big pick up after throwing away a 2 zip lead..... dig deep and show some grit they showed last week. Perhaps a few fisticuffs at the start of the 3rd should kick start the comeback.....

Devils trying to get back into this game...they create a shooting chance.....but Sandahl gets his body behind it.

Latulippe this time with the shot...but once again it hits the pipe!

Have Hull got a bigger goal frames than the rest of the league???

Into the final minute..

39:20 - Puck goes out of play.

Seems to be some confusion as to whether the puck is going over the plexi or hitting a very low roof.

*OUCH* - This time its a Devil who gets nailed as Smith ends up on the ice.

39:46 - Devils offside.

And we have handbags again as all 10 players on the ice want a piece of each other.

Seems like this is getting a bit more heated than your usual handbags......

And that's all we will play of the second period. Carson sends both teams to the dressing rooms and the remaining seconds will be played after the break.

As if things were bad enough - Smith looks injured. He's walked off holding his shoulder and not gone to the dressing room with the rest of the team.

Shots on goal 1st period: Hull 7 - Cardiff 6

Shots on goal 2nd period: Hull 6 - Devils 7

Ouch! :(

As second periods go - that was pretty awful

Let's hope G can get it all sorted before the start of the third period.

Keith:

RED ARMY RED ARMY

Bit soon for that yet Keith!

Keith:

Never to soon to cheer on the boys!!

theStub @ Hull:

2 periods angle Hull look good. Devils making some decent moves, but Hull seem able to break up the plays and look good on the breKaway.

Anyone who think Hull will be a push over this season will be in for a shock.

As for the Devils, we need to sharpen up. Too many missed passes, too space at the back. We are giving the oposition too many chances, and too much time in all areas.

But, if they start clicking we will be unstopable.

Phil PLT:

Lets not forget our guys have only had two days on the ice training since they have all been together

Penalties at the end of second period:

Voth - 2 mins Roughing

Hill - 2 mins Roughing

CLoutier - 2 mins Roughing

Both teams are back on the ice......but Mark Smith is not there.

Both teams back to full strenght. Lyle makes save at 42:18

Smith has just been seen going into the changing rooms with an ice pack on his shoulder.

42:44 - Puck out of play

44:35 - Hull offside.

Hmmm... 3rd period seems to be very quiet so far after an exciting end to the 2nd period.

Aled:

What we need is a good old fashioned line brawl. We're not likely to be able to play well given the lack of training, so let's get some team spirit going.

Whoever injured Smith should be number one target for our guys.

45:48 - Stingrays Penalty - Knight 2 mins Hooking

45:57 - Sandahl makes the save.

We really need our PP to click ASAP!

And we certainly don't want to be giving away penalties when on the PP.

Devils Penalty - Jarvis 2 mins Interference @ 46:22

We'll have 1:26 of 4-on-4 hockey. Our defence are still making too many mistakes and putting Lyle under pressure.

47:13 - Devils shoot......but once again Sandahl makes the save.

Hull on the PP as they return to full strength.

Devils kill off the short powerplay and also return to PP.

Return to full strength I mean.

And we have another scrap/handbags on the ice.

Amongst all the players on the ice, Towe and Hutchinson were having a go at each other.

It's starting to get very scrappy.

Hull also seem to be getting the better of us in the physical department and are starting to push us around.

Hull create a good chance...but Lyle makes the save at 50:08

Which means we are into the last 10 minutes. Come on guys we need at least an equaliser!!!!

Unfortunately we are passing badly, playing messy and don't look like we will score.

51:28 - and when we do managed to create a chance and shoot, Sandahl once again makes the save.

Sandal makes another save on 52 minutes.

"Players starting tog et angry at Carson's dodgy reffing."

52:29 - Devils offside.

52:33 - Once again the puck goes out of play.

Lyle makes yet another 'save', although it sounds like it was more luck than judgement as he stamps on the puckc.

Finally the Stingrays get a penalty called against them Jorde 2 mins Charging @ 53:27

53:37 - Puck goes out of play for what must be the 2000th time in this game.

54:11 - Puck out of play for the 2001st time

55:16 - Sandahl makes the save, and once again the players pile in to each other to show off their handbags.

Hull back to full strength.

Our PP clearly not working as well as it did in Newcastle last weekend.

55:42 - Devils ice the puck.

COME ON DEVILS!!!!

Devils look lost.

57:04 - Hull look to kill off the game, they shoot but Lyle deflects the puck out of play.

57:23 - Devils go up the other end, get into the zone....they shoot.........Sandahl saves

Into the final 2 minutes. It's Hull's turn to counter attack.....they shoot....and it hits the pipes again!

1 minute to go...

Lyle is pulled for the extra skater....

Hull get the puck....they shoot......

but it goes wide! Icing called. Face off in Hull zone.

Hull win the face off...they shoot.......

but it goes wide again. Icing called. Back goes the puck to the Hull zone.

40 seconds remaining.

Hull win the face off again.. they shoot........and it's 3rd time lucky

Stingrays Goal

Stingrays 4-2 Devils

Kalmikov (Glowa, Knight) ENG @ 59:27

That's a hat-trick for Kalmikov

And that is the end of the game.

Final Score: Hull Stingrays 4-2 Cardiff Devils

Disappointing result, especially after we were 2-0 up.

Devils MOTM is Michel

The other EIHL games are going now too

And some hot news from Gazza is that Molin is playing for the Panthers in place of the injured Bergin!!!!!!

Unsuprisingly, Hull's MOTM was Kalmikov.

Let's hope we re-group and perform better tomorrow. 2 points really is a must now

That's it from MNL tonight. Chris is off to cry and I'm off to the pub to drown my sorrows and hope for better in the footy-hockey double tomorrow.

Thanks for all your emails - MNL should be back tomorrow with theStub for those of you who can't make the game.

Until then - good night. Or Good afternoon for those of you the other side of the Atlantic!